


it was all for you

by gouda



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Confrontations, Dark One's Dagger, Dark Swan, Excalibur, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-26 21:29:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5021185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gouda/pseuds/gouda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Excalibur and the dagger are united. The completed sword holds the key to saving Emma.</p><p>If only it was that easy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	it was all for you

**Author's Note:**

> I saw the promo today and I groaned. Rumple kind of stole my line. This is what I get for waiting a week to post this.
> 
> Enjoy!

The Fury turned its sights on her and when it felt like there was nothing left in her to give to the monster the connection broke.

 

“You idiotic, idealistic, intrepid woman!”

 

Emma was there in her pale and snarling glory.

 

She wasn’t alone.

 

She held Grumpy by the scuff of his neck, his legs dangling helplessly in the air as the Fury took his soul.

 

“It’s always Robin. Always _him_.”

 

The Fury took Grumpy’s still body.

 

The quiet was ominous in the wake of the Fury’s departure.

 

“What. Did. You. Do?” Her rage had always been easy to grasp but this time there was no reaching for it, she was already cloaked in its familiar embrace.

 

“What you wouldn’t.” Emma as the Dark One was merciless and unforgiving. “Here’s a tip, _Savior,_ save yourself because no one else will.”

 

 

 

 

_No one else will…_

 

It was the third night she stayed up replaying those words in her head.

 

_No one else will…_

 

They tried, hadn’t they?

 

What happened in Camelot?

 

Regina was trying to solve a puzzle with half of the pieces missing. She could still attempt to solve it but in the end no matter how hard she tried failure would be the end result.

 

 

 

 

“You need sleep.”

 

A week had passed since the night of Grumpy’s death and Regina had been awake nearly the whole time with only minimal breaks to sleep and eat.

 

She was close, she could feel it.

 

She will free Emma from the darkness.

 

_No one else will…_

 

“I'm fine. Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

 

Her blurry eyes moved from the text she was deciphering to meet the unimpressed eyes of her growing boy.

 

“It’s seven in the morning. You’ve been up all night.”

 

“I know Henry. I need to…”

 

“You're not going to be able to do anything if you can barely stay awake. Mom, please. Sleep.”

 

_Save yourself because no one else will._

 

The retort was quick on her lips but her son was even quicker.

 

“You can't save Emma if you can barely keep your eyes open.”

 

 _Here’s a tip,_ Savior _, save yourself because no one else will._

 

 

 

 

Robin was in the hospital being treated for second-degree burns.

 

Regina rushed into his hospital room fearing the worst only to find Robin being bandaged by Whale.

 

“What happened?”

 

But Regina didn’t need an answer. She saw the blistered skin marring Robin’s forearm.

 

With a jolt she realized what arm it was on and what she couldn’t see.

 

“Emma. She—”

 

“She burned your tattoo off.”

 

 

 

 

“Emma!” Her voice echoed in the emptiness of Emma’s house. “Emma Swan!”

 

“Regina.” The deep and unnatural timbre of her voice washed over Regina and coated her in unease. “What a surprise.”

 

Even as the Dark One, Emma was a terrible liar.

 

“What you did to Robin—”

 

“Tell me Regina,” she approached at a deathly slow pace, “do you still feel forced to love him? His tattoo is gone now. Has your love _sizzled_ away?”

 

“It does not work that way.”

 

“Doesn’t’ it? How long after you saw his tattoo were you convinced you loved him?”

 

Standing vulnerable in the entryway to the Dark One’s home as Emma circled her, Regina refused to be goaded and bullied. “You're awfully obsessed with Robin. Is the Dark One jealous?”

 

“Robin? This has nothing to do with Robin.”

 

“You sent the Fury to kill Robin. You attacked him.”

 

“If I wanted him dead I would not have spent all of Camelot saving him for you. But did that matter to you? After all I’ve done for you did any of it matter? All I sacrificed? It was all for you! Didn’t _I_ matter?”

 

The Dark One was raging. Her magic filling the air and waiting to be unleashed. Regina could feel it thrumming around her and she could feel her magic coiling in response.

 

“Emma’s just a tool for you all use to get _your_ happy endings.”

 

“Emma no.” Regina was lost and gaping and at a loss on how to stop Emma’s growing anger. “I don’t remember Camelot, you know that. What happened? Was Robin—”

 

“ _Robin_ ,” Emma snarled and Regina realized she never experienced the full rage a Dark One was capable of, but now looking at the twisted and harsh features of Emma she knew Emma was close to showing her. “Always Robin. What did I have to do to get you to see me? To choose me?”

 

“I don’t understand,” Regina said ignoring the crack in her voice and settling for nonchalant under the furious and hopeless gaze of the Dark One.

 

The house was shaking. She could hear pots falling out of the cabinets and the cracking of the walls as lines splintered along them.

 

“Emma, calm down.”

 

“Or what?” Emma glided closer until her sharp features were a scant inch from her own and the glimmering of her skin shone in the minimal light. “You don’t have the dagger. You can't control me Regina. You don’t have any leverage.”

 

With a jerky wave of her hand Emma was gone.

 

 

 

 

Arthur and Guinevere went missing two hours later.

 

 

 

 

Henry burst into her study a day later eyes bright and a grin on his face.

 

It had been too long since she had seen that look on his face.

 

“What is it?” Snow asked her voice excited as she looked to grab onto any hope.

 

“I know what Excalibur does.”

 

Snow squealed and David grinned but Regina was infinitely more practical then those two idiots.

 

“How?”

 

“Uh…” Clearly he wasn’t expecting that question. “Violet?”

 

“Henry, explain.”

 

“Mom, I know it was wrong but we needed information. And in the end she told me. I became her friend so I could find out about Arthur’s plan for Excalibur.”

 

She tried not to be too disapproving when she diplomatically said, “I'm not happy that you felt you had to do this Henry but what did you find out?”

 

“Excalibur isn’t whole. It needs to be connected to the Dark One’s dagger. When Excalibur is whole it destroys darkness wholly and completely.”

 

“You're sure?”

 

“Positive. Violet said that Arthur and Guinevere were looking for Excalibur since the moment they arrived.”

 

“But Emma has the dagger,” David obviously concluded.

 

“It would be safe to assume that Emma would have the sword as well. She cased the curse it would only make sense for her to give herself the sword.” Belle spoke for the first time that morning; she was otherwise engrossed in her research. “But the question remains; why would she need it?”

 

“To destroy it,” Henry concluded. “Emma’s the Dark One she doesn’t want the darkness to be destroyed.”

 

“Before Hook left he mentioned that Emma had a strange door that was bolted close. That could be where she is hiding the sword. How do we get the dagger and the sword?”

 

“Distraction,” Henry offered.

 

“Who’s going to distract her?”

 

All eyes turned to Regina.

 

 _Here’s a tip,_ Savior _, save yourself because no one else will._

 

 

Pacing on the pier and attempting to calm her racing heart Regina was warring with fending off her deadly pessimism and quelling her rising optimism.

 

They would complete the sword and purge the darkness into oblivion.

 

“Emma Swan.” She was met with only the sound of the crashing waves. “Emma, please. I know you can hear me.”

 

And now the Dark One was giving her the silent treatment.

 

An unwelcome thought crossed her mind that Emma already found Henry and the others trying to get the sword.

 

Dread, the likes of which she hadn’t felt since her mother was alive coursed through her, fraying the fragile calm she was hardly holding on to. Her hands pressed against her stomach trying to keep her from unraveling at the seams.

 

“Emma Swan. I made a mistake.”

 

She felt the air shift beside her. They were safe and Emma could still be saved.

 

“I'm listening.”

 

“In Camelot I made a mistake.”

 

She only had a limited amount of information to go on and only one small thread of an inkling as to what Emma’s real anger stems from.

 

What happened in Camelot? It was maddening that she didn’t know especially when knowing what happened to Emma would help her solve the nearly unrecognizable Dark One.

 

“In Camelot with Robin I made a mistake.” A quick glance at Emma and she saw how eager she was for the words Regina didn’t know.

 

“Yeah?” That hesitance was music to her ears. It was Emma.

 

“Yes,” she resolutely confirmed. Where she was going with this, she didn’t know. Struggling to connect the dots that weren’t lining up she opted to be as ambiguous as she could without letting on that she was shooting in the dark. “I'm sorry Emma. I'm sorry that I ever let you think otherwise.”

 

_Always Robin…_

 

“It’s not always Robin.”

 

“It’s not?”

 

Emma was gripping her hand and Regina knew it was working. Whatever happened in Camelot and whatever thoughts were swarming in her brain, Regina was getting closer to the truth of Emma’s acceptance of the darkness.

 

“No, of course not.” Regina swallowed down the guilt under Emma’s trusting and earnest eyes. It was all for her, to save her. She just needed Emma to give her the dagger or get close enough to take it.

 

These words tasted like betrayal but they kept coming.

 

“It’s you. Emma it’s _always_ you.”

 

Then Emma was kissing her. One hand pulled at her hip until she was flush against her then the other wove into her hair.

 

Caught off guard by the teasing of Emma’s tongue she didn’t at first realize that from where her hand was gripping Emma she could feel the dagger and the other, well, she felt her firm ass.

 

With a heavy heart Regina could not pass on the opportunity she was granted.

 

 

 

 

It was all for her. This would save her.

 

 

 

 

When her fingers closed around the dagger she broke the searing kiss.

 

Her eyes met disarmingly bright green eyes. This was Emma. Even the hesitant smile her running across her thin lips was reminiscent of Emma before the curse. Tentative fingers brushed over her lips, reverent and disbelieving.

 

“Regina.” Emma whispered her name begging and hopeful.

 

She thought it never sounded so beautiful.

 

“Regina, I love—”

 

A sob caught in her throat. She understood.

 

She understood with a blinding clarity that burned through her body, mind, and soul.

 

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”

 

“Regina?”

 

“Emma I'm sorry.”

 

Regina pulled away from her warm and comforting embrace blatantly ignoring her still tingling lips.

 

Years later Regina would still remember with heart-stopping agony the way Emma’s face darkened when she saw the dagger clenched in Regina’s grip. Regina would remember the look of utter betrayal etched into every line of Emma’s pale face. Next came the anger contorting her features and her lips pulling into a snarl. Lastly, she remembered the glimmering of her skin that deepened as the seconds passed until she couldn’t recognize her Emma anymore.

 

All traces of her previous self expelled from her in an instant.

 

“I'm sorry,” Regina whispered, the words coming out broken and hitched, as they barely were able to pass the knot in her throat. “Don’t move until I return.” The command was heavy on her lips.

 

Regina was gone in one easy call of her magic the thunderous scream of the Dark One followed her.

 

 

 

 

Emma before the curse yearned for love.

 

Emma as the Dark One was desperate for it.

 

 

If only she had learned that sooner

 

 

 

 

She followed the sound of voices down to the basement.

 

The sword in the stone was standing erect in the middle of the basement. Henry, Belle, and the Charmings surrounded it. Crumpled over a still and unmoving body was a shaking Arthur.

 

“Why isn’t the sword out?”

 

“Arthur couldn’t take out Excalibur.”

 

“It does not work if ones intentions are not pure and selfless. The Dark One,” he spat the title like the curse it is, “threatened to kill Guinevere if I did not remove the sword for her. The moment I tried to remove the sword out of my selfish desire to save my wife and condemn everyone else to the Dark One’s rein, I became unworthy of the sword. And your Dark One killed her regardless.”

 

“Do you know of any other way to kill the darkness in Emma?” Regina questioned the grieving widow.

 

“No. The sword is the only way.”

 

“As I thought.”

 

Regina strode forward with the echoes of Emma screeching reminding her of why she must do this.

 

Her fingers gripped the handle of the sword, both hands preparing to pull the sword out. Before her muscles strained to heave the weapon from the rock Regina had to say one thing.

 

“Henry I love you.”

 

_Here’s a tip, Savior…_

 

The sword came easily with little resistance.

 

The room was quiet as several pairs of eyes stared at the sword and its owner in awe but Regina could still hear the raging howls of the Dark One.

 

The dagger was pulled from her waistband and after snapping off the handle, connected at long last to Excalibur.

 

Instantaneously the sword became heavier as it was reunited with its missing piece.

 

After this night Regina hoped she could say the same.

 

 

 

 

They appeared on the pier tensed and ready. Regina held the sword aloft pointing it in the direction she knew Emma was commanded to stay in.

 

Snow gasped then cringed away from frightening sight of Emma. The others were wary as well but not to the extent of Snow.

 

Dark blackened eyes held Regina in her menacing gaze before they disappeared behind a puff of dark smoke.

 

_Don’t move until I return._

 

“What happened?”

 

“Where did she go?”

 

“Mom?”

 

They all started speaking at the same time.

 

Arthur’s voice was the loudest of them all. “What were you waiting for? The Dark One was before you and you did nothing.”

 

“Well it hardly came with an instruction manual.”

 

His spitting words a mixture of his grief and frustration. “Did you think you could merely hold Excalibur like some fairy’s wand and the magic would disappear? This is no simple spell! This is an extermination of evil! To think you were worthy to pull out Excalibur.”

 

“What did you say?” The Evil Queen was in full effect when Regina spun with Excalibur still gripped tightly in her hands and bore down on Arthur.

 

“It’s a sword. I'm sure you could discern how it is to be used.”

 

 _No_.

 

“That will kill Emma.”

 

“Yes. And the darkness.”

 

“Then we will not use it. Not if the cost is Emma’s life.”

 

“How will you stop your Dark One then?” Arthur pointed to the town. Black smoke was billowing into the sky, they couldn’t hear the screams but they knew they were there. “When the dagger fused with Excalibur you rendered its control over the Dark One useless. Now you can only use Excalibur—the united Excalibur to destroy the darkness once and for all.”

 

“There is another way. We just have to find it.” She sounded like the optimistic fools but what other choice did she have? Emma’s death was not an option.

 

“It is too late for that now.”

 

The screams from the town finally reached them. Her stomach bottomed out and her heart was in her throat. Helpless with a sword meant for Emma and a burden she didn’t feel she could shoulder.

 

“Mom…”

 

“Henry. I—”

 

“I know.” They both fell into the hug desperate for the comfort and the support.

 

Snow and David curled around them wrapping her and Henry in their arms. Under any other circumstance Regina would have shaken them off then belittled them with acerbic words meant to push them away. But now when reassurances were needed and the crushing weight of burdens needed to be shared, Regina was more than accepting of their embrace.

 

“She wouldn’t have wanted this,” Snow sobbed through her pouring tears. “She would want it to be you who…”

 

She closed her eyes as if they would prevent her from hearing the wracking sobs cutting off Snow’s words.

 

David fared no better than his wife. “We promised to save her. We—we’re keeping that promise. It just—”

 

_It just not how they wanted to save her._

 

Henry’s hands covered hers on the sword, followed shortly by Snow then lastly David’s hands joined theirs.

 

They were going to save her. They were saving her.

 

It was for her. It’s all for her.

 

 

“Merlin.”

 

Arthur’s voice was anything but welcome especially when he was unable to speak in complete sentences.

 

“When Excalibur is used Merlin should be freed from the tree. If anyone can save her it’s Merlin.”

 

They should know better than to grasp at false hope, Regina especially so.

 

 

But they don’t.

 

 

 

 

Main Street was a war zone. Cars were overturned, buildings were on fire and walls were blown apart, a telephone lines crashed through most of the buildings along the street; and at the center of it was Emma.

 

The closer they got to Emma the more they could see the bodies coating the streets. Some were still, some were writhing in agony, and some were howling over their loved ones.

 

“Henry I need you to stay out of sight.”

 

“Mom I'm not running.”

 

“I know.” Regina smoothed his hair down. Her brave boy who was so selfless it was all too easy to see him in Emma’s position and there was nothing as terrifying as that. He was getting older and wiser and unfortunately taller; it made her want to hold on to him and never let go especially when he is developing a proclivity of sacrificing himself for others. “I need you to watch the sword. Emma will never let me get close if she sees this.”

 

“I don't like it but okay.”

 

He wasn’t happy but Regina had to keep him safe. She had to keep him safe.

 

And she had to save Emma.

 

“Stay safe and out of sight.”

 

The three of them watched Henry until he disappeared behind the pawnshop.

 

“If you think we are leaving your side you're delusional.”

 

She didn’t and strangely enough she wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

 

 

 

“Look who joined the party.”

 

Emma was grinning. Madness swirling through darkened eyes and promising malevolence. It took considerate effort not to look away.

 

“The three people I wanted to see.” With a flick of her hand one of the dwarfs went flying through one of the remaining windows that wasn’t broken. “The three people I could never please. How _pleasing_ am I now?”

 

She was feral and once the growling was done she would attack.

 

“Emma, please don’t do this,” Snow begged taking a hesitant step forward. “This isn’t you.”

 

Quick as a blinding flash of lightning Emma was before her mother.

 

“You don’t even know who I am! You never have. I was only ever what you wanted me to be. This is the closest _me_ you’ve ever seen.” Emma fiercely gripped her chin. “Always trying to mold me into your perfect little _princess_. Always offering just enough scraps of your love so I could continue to be what you wanted. I was never enough. If I was more how you wanted me to be maybe I wouldn’t feel so hallow, maybe you would have loved me for me.”

 

Snow cried out either from the caustic words or oppressive grip Emma held her jaw in.

 

David stepped forward protectively and Emma didn’t even need to stop her eyes from glaring scorching holes through Snow’s watery eyes to stop him and dangle him in the air.

 

“You,” she snarled, “are no better! You let her offer her breadcrumbs and you don’t question it! You didn't fight for me! _Me_!”

 

Oh, how this was all too reminiscent of what she could have said to her own parents.

 

“You all manipulated me into being your obedient little toy until you could throw me away when you had your perfect child.”

 

“Emma, your mother and I love you.”

 

David was thrown through the air until he met the side of Granny’s diner. With a crack that echoed through the now quieted streets he crumpled to the asphalt.

 

“I don’t need your love.” Then she was hoisting Snow up by her throat, choking the life out of her. “I have never felt better.”

 

“Emma!” Regina’s voice scolding and panicked all at once. “Fight this Emma. Fight.” Regina was clinging onto the arm holding Snow aloft. “You're more than this. You're better than this. Look at me. Please! Look at me!”

 

Stiffly her head turned and for the briefest of moments the Dark One’s eyes flash green.

 

Snow fell to the ground sputtering and coughing and clutching her throat but alive.

 

“That’s it Emma. You're more than this.”

 

“You're the worst of them all.”

 

Where there was righteous anger directed at her parents, there was calm unbridled fury directed at Regina.

 

“I trusted you. You made me believe that you saw me! Then you turned out to be like the rest of them.”

 

“I'm sorry. I am so sorry. Please, Emma. I'm sorry.”

 

Emma fingers brushed her cheek, wiping tears she didn’t even know were falling from her face.

 

“It’s too late for ‘sorry.’”

 

Her sights turned back to Snow and they could hear David screaming out.

 

“Emma we’re going to save you. Let us save you.”

 

Snow was rising in the air and once again the Dark One they created cut off her air supply. “You had your chance.”

 

Regina ripped Emma’s arm away from Snow, strengthened by the use of her magic. “Enough Emma.” She cradled the pale face in between her palms, “enough.”

 

“It will be enough when you all feel the pain you put me through!”

 

With an earthquake like force the street cracked splitting in random directions and Regina stumbled from the force of the tremor.

 

Drowning out the seismic rumble were screams filling the air at an increasing rate. Snow was writhing as her nerves were set aflame and Regina could see many others reacting in the same way.

 

And Emma—no the Dark One was grinning, maliciously like she was a conductor and the screams were her symphony.

 

She had to save Emma and this being was not her.

 

Regina stumbled until she was an arms reach away from the Dark One.

 

“I am sorry, Emma.”

 

Calling her magic and summoning Excalibur to her already thrusting arm it ran through the Dark One’s stomach until the tip was protruding from her back.

 

A burst of light expanded from the Dark One blasting Regina and everyone else backwards.

 

 

 

 

_“I'm the Savior.”_

_She had said and the regret was palpable when she saw the look on Emma’s face._

 

 

_Emma was seated at the vanity with Snow hovering over her._

_“You look perfect Emma. Just like a princess. This is how your father and I would have dressed you. Our perfect daughter, ruling the kingdom after us.”_

 

 

_Emma snapped Percival’s neck with a vicious wave of her hand but not before he stabbed Robin._

_“I’ll save him Regina, don’t worry. I’ll save him.”_

 

 

_“We must stop the Dark One. It’s a monster barely even human. We will set out to free Merlin to rid the world of that terrible creature.”_

 

_“You heard him, I'm a monster barely even human.”_

 

_“That’s not true Emma you know its not.”_

 

_“Then why are you the only one here? Why did you follow me to my room?”_

 

_“I know you Emma. I saw that you were taking what Arthur said to heart and I needed to be sure that you know what he said was not true.”_

 

_“I would do it again.”_

 

_“What?”_

 

_“I would save you again. I would take on this curse again. For you.”_

 

_“Robin’s missing.”_

 

_“It’s like a broken record with you isn’t it?”_

 

_“Emma?”_

 

_“Nothing Regina. I’ll find him.”_

 

_“It’s hopeless. Nothing we try works. Either Merlin is not in that tree or we need the real Savior to try.”_

 

_“It’s a tree. A regular tree.”_

 

_“You’re sure?”_

 

_“I spent the last four hours double-checking for the hundredth time. Yes I'm sure.”_

 

_Her hands were shaking after the extended use of her magic and there was a slight gleam to her skin that they all missed._

 

 

_“Merlin’s dead. I killed him. He was a threat to this kingdom and I as King of Camelot sentenced him to death.”_

 

_“Then why trick us into trying to free him from that damn tree?”_

 

_“It was a test. To see if you all could be trusted.”_

 

_“There’s no cure for her, David. What are we supposed to do about our daughter?”_

 

_“I don’t know Mary Margaret. I don’t know.”_

 

_Regina watched as Emma scurried away._

 

_Camelot found out that Emma was the Dark One. It had happened at one of many feasts held in their honor._

 

_Snow had been especially patronizing since the truth of Merlin and Emma’s skin flashed a deadly white color before briefly glimmering in the candlelight._

 

 

_“We cannot allow for such a heartless beast to stay within ours walls. Unless the dagger is turned over.”_

 

_Emma had kept her distance from everyone since that night._

 

_“I didn’t need to give your mother the sleeping curse I already sentenced her to the worst fate imaginable; camping.”_

 

_Emma remained silent._

 

_“Although I suppose I could take a booth at Granny’s but why would I subject myself to being in close proximity with the dwarves? They smell bad enough from afar.”_

 

_“I will get us home Regina. For you. For Henry.”_

 

_“You look like you're going through withdrawal, Emma. I doubt you can handle using that much more of your magic.”_

 

_“It’s worth the risk.”_

 

_“Why?”_

 

_“You know why.”_

_“Choose me.”_

 

_“What?”_

 

_“If I gave you a choice would you choose me over Robin?”_

 

 _“Emma that’s_ _—”_

 

_“I love you, Regina. I took on this curse because I love you. You know me like I know you it makes sense. We make sense.”_

 

_“Emma…”_

 

_“I would do anything for you Regina. Please choose me.”_

 

_There was a desperation in Emma that she would not notice until after she watches Emma walk away from her._

_“Emma I'm sorry I don’t…”_

 

_Emma’s pleading face crumpled before becoming impassive, stone._

 

 _“I choose Robin. He’s my soul mate, I’m sorry. You have to understand_ _—Emma wait! Where are you going?”_

 

_Emma’s voice was foreign when she responded and Regina thought her hair looked shockingly white but she chalked it up to the moonlight._

 

 

_“I said I was going to get us home, didn’t I?”_

 

 

When she opened her eyes the air was free from the stifling smoke and everything for an instant seemed brighter.

 

Until her gaze landed on Excalibur painted in blood. And her ears picked up the sound pained gasping.

 

_Here’s a tip, Savior, save yourself because no one else will_

 

“No. No. No.,” Regina whispered, falling next to the prone Emma. Emma had her eyes pressed shut and both of her hands met the rented skin on her torso, immediately coloring her hands in red. Emma cried out when Regina pressed down on her wound. “I know it hurts but you have to feel it Emma. That’s how you know you're alive. Feel it and stay alive.”

 

Shinning green eyes (had they always been this bright?) opened, glassy with pain and unfocused on a point behind Regina.

 

“I need you to focus Emma. Can you do that?”

 

The beginnings of a smile started to curve Emma’s lips. “Regina…you're so beautiful.”

 

A laugh and a sob caught in her throat, marring each and twisting it until Regina was keening over her. “I’m going to get you help. I need to press down as hard as you can while I get Whale.”

 

She thought the worst when Emma started shaking. “Em—”

 

“I killed him. I killed…so many of them.”

 

Emma was sobbing until she was gasping out in pain. The trembling of her weakened frame too much for her injured body yet she was unable to stop.

 

“Emma!” Regina said sharply. “Look at me! Look at me and breathe. Slowly.”

 

When Emma spoke again her voice was worn and every bit of her displayed her exhaustion. “I can't I'm sorry. I can't.”

 

“Think of Henry.”

 

Henry, who was sprinting to his mothers as fast as he could.

 

The hyperventilating lead to convulsions until Emma was coughing red.

 

“No no no. Wait for Henry, Emma. Wait for your son.” Her tears were blurring her vision. Regina was blinking them back at rapid pace so as to not risk missing a second of Emma. Of the features she was trying to remember. The way her eyes _shined_ and promised so much even if it was to the detriment of herself.

 

Emma, who had loved Regina more than she thought anyone was capable.

 

She was choking on her own blood now. It was seeping between her pale and thin lips, a ghastly announcement of what was happening to her.

 

“Our…son,” she managed to force out.

 

And Regina took to chanting, “wait for our son.” Her hands gripping onto the weakening ones under hers trying to hold on _her_ and trying to offer her something she knew Emma never wanted to lose.

 

“Mom!” Henry was close now, the blind panic making Regina’s heart hide in her throat.

 

Emma managed to angle her head to see Henry coming, his now long legs carrying him at full speed.

 

She reached out for him. “Hen—”

 

Henry caught her hand as her words were lost under the gurgling of blood filling her throat.

 

She squeezed both of their hands with surprising strength. “I love you…” was directed at the both of them.

 

Then with one last shuttering breath her hands went limp in theirs and bright emerald eyes closed with the last sights being of the two of them.

 

Her family.

 

 

It came to no surprise that Emma Swan was buried in the Mills family crypt.


End file.
